I can't say that Pacific Golden could be ruled out entirely. I saw the
bird on the ground for only a couple of seconds before it took to flight,
but the leg length did not seem as long as I picture the leg length of
Pacific Golden to be. However, I have no experience with Pacific Golden.
The bird did call, but from what I have been able to determine, there is no
agreement as to whether or not the calls of American Golden and Pacific
Golden can be distinguished from one another with certainty. Basically, I
called it American Golden rather than Pacific Golden due to the fact that I
considered American Golden to be far more likely. However, I could have
been wrong.
Charlie Barnard Jr.
Stratford